Reviewed June 6, 2018

Faculty

Needs Statement

Tourniquets have received increased attention recently, following military publications of the usefulness in combat settings.  During the same time frame, several high-profile civilian mass casualty events captured the public attention and have prompted increased focus from first responders on hemorrhage control, including the publication of the Hartford Consensus Paper in June of 2013.  Included in the recommendations in this paper was the use of tourniquets to control and mitigate massive hemorrhage.  Despite these recent developments, tourniquets in civilian trauma systems remain underutilized, possibly due to widespread misconception about their safety and effectiveness.

Target Audience

Medical providers (physicians, nurses, advanced practitioners, pre-hospital EMS personnel) who care for injured patients.

Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants will be able to:

1. Summarize the scientific principles of safe, effective use of commercially available tourniquets.
2. Describe the successful use of tourniquets in combat settings.
3. Discuss translation of lessons learned about tourniquet use by the military into civilian settings.

 

Accreditation

CME
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, and Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma. The University of Kentucky College of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The University of Kentucky College of Medicine designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

The University of Kentucky College of Medicine presents this activity for educational purposes only. Participants are expected to utilize their own expertise and judgment while engaged in the practice of medicine. The content of the presentations is provided solely by presenters who have been selected for presentations because of recognized expertise in their field.

ACGME Competencies

• Patient care
• Medical knowledge
• Practice-based learning and improvement

Faculty Disclosure

No speakers, authors, planners or content reviewers have any relevant financial relationships to disclose.

The material presented in this course represents information obtained from the scientific literature as well as the clinical experiences of the speakers. In some cases, the presentations might include discussion of investigational agents and/or off-label indications for various agents used in clinical practice. Speakers will inform the audience when they are discussing investigational and/or off-label uses.

Content review confirmed that the content was developed in a fair, balanced manner free from commercial bias. Disclosure of a relationship is not intended to suggest or condone commercial bias in any presentation, but it is made to provide participants with information that might be of potential importance to their evaluation of a presentation.

Acknowledgement

This activity is jointly provided by the University of Kentucky and Eastern Association for the Surgery of Trauma.